Boone boasts four potential breakout swimmers

By Andrew Logue

Wednesday

Aug 8, 2018 at 12:01 AMAug 8, 2018 at 7:50 PM

A group of promising swimmers will give the Boone girls something to build on this fall.

Haley Hall set a solid pace for the Toreadors a year ago - specifically in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and the 100 butterfly - but now that she’s graduated, the lineup will feature more versatility.

“We’ve got four or five seniors who are really going to contribute on the varsity,” coach Chris Mann said. “I think a lot of girls are kind of at the same level.”

Four could emerge as breakout performers:

*Liz Purtle ranked among Boone’s top five in seven different individual events in 2017.

“Swims a lot of varsity. She swims very confident. She works very hard.”

Purtle led the Toreadors by swimming 26.66 in the 50 freestyle and a 1:04.16 in the 100 backstroke.

“From that freshman year to sophomore year, we usually see a lot of maturity in the swimmers,” Mann said. “And so, hopefully, we see that with her.”

*Regan Peter was clocked at 1:15.32 in the breaststroke.

“She’s always been solid,” Mann said, “but at our Regional meet last year she really dropped a lot of time and swam some very noteworthy times on the relay and the 100 breaststroke.

“So, hopefully, she kind of picks up where she left off and works down toward those times and a little bit faster.”

*Lauren Kennedy began to find her competitive niche in shorter races.

“She kind of turned into a sprinter last year, and so on all of those relays she should be a big help,” Mann said. “She works really hard and likes to compete.

“Hopefully, we’ll see a little more time drops out of her this year, just like we saw last year.”

*Ellie Madson could also be a staple on relays.

“Ellie has kind of swam a lot of stuff,” Mann said. “She’s primarily a freestyler, bounces around between some distances, but really working more on the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, that sort of range.”

Madson swam a 2:09.18 in the 200 freestyle and a 6:07.03 in the 500 free.

“She’ll be a real help to us, especially looking for that 400 freestyle relay,” Mann said. “She should be a big asset on that.”

The next few weeks will be spent figuring out more spots in the lineup.

“We’ve really got to bring them back into shape slowly and keep getting the yards in, technique work in,” Mann said. “So that we know what we’re doing, come those first meets.”

The Toreadors open Aug. 28 at home against Grinnell.

“That’ll be a great first meet to kind of set the tone for our season,” Mann said. “Hopefully, we can be ready for that meet, but then also ready to keep stepping forward throughout the rest of the year.”

The schedule continues Sept. 1 at Muscatine and Sept. 4 at Perry. Regional meets will be held Oct. 27, at sites to be determined.